forever is composed of nows
by misoneism
Summary: When the entire world collapses (or rather, it certainly feels that way watching the building crumble to Yuu's plundered ability), how will the syndicate members pick up the pieces? AU multi-chapter story in which Kumagami survives because Shunsuke shields him in the nick of time, Yuu is shattered by what he has done, and maybe, just maybe, Kumagami will be honest with himself.
1. Collapse

In the end, they had to submit to the terrorist's requests and send Yuu alone. It contradicted all of Shunsuke's natural instincts, but with the shadow of Kumagami's capture hanging over him, constricting every tendril of rational thought, Shunsuke could not think of an alternative method that did not involve sacrificing Furuki's family.

Just fifteen minutes left to go. Shunsuke pinched the bridge of his nose. "Maedomari, you did contact Takajo Jojiro, right?"

"I did - he'll be here in five minutes."

"Good. Don't let Yuu see him. He will be with us as a precautionary measure in case we have need of quick action."

"Roger that."

Shunsuke turned in the general direction of Medoki. "Please go prep the ambulances we have reserved for emergencies, as many of them as you can get ahold of. Have them follow us without their sirens on - we must strive to avoid detection at all costs."

"Got it," the girl said, darting off to call the operators.

What else? What else was there to plan for? His brain was jumping all over the place, unable to hone in on any coherent strategy. Again and again, all he could think of were Kumagami and Nao, held captive in the hands of terrorists. And when he did manage to tear his thoughts away, Shunsuke was bombarded with a thousand ways this operation could go wrong.

They needed to trust Yuu.

But Shunsuke had heard the fear in Yuu's voice just yesterday, when he barely staved off a tragedy inflicted by Collapse. Yuu had not yet grown accustomed to the allowable bounds of his emotions. Before an organized terrorist group, one that had spent years plotting and had captured both Kumagami and Nao, how would he avoid triggering it? The answer would be to use time-leap, and Shunsuke hated having only one viable option of escape.

"It's almost time," Shichino uttered, standing close by. The blonde had been oddly muted during the entire preparation process, despite the idea having come from him. He of all the members despised the idea of relying on Yuu the most.

Shunsuke gripped onto his sleeve, feeling fine tremors. "It'll be alright, Shichino," he said. "As you pointed out, Yuu does have the time leap ability in case anything does go wrong."

"Sure," the other boy snorted. "I get it. I just have a bad feeling about this."

Didn't they all?

"Let's go," Maedomari called out to them.

With that, they were on their way, hands and heart gripped so tightly that Shunsuke could scarcely breathe.

_ We're coming...please hang on, Kumagami, Nao, Yuu..._

* * *

As planned, their car arrived five minutes after Yuu was dropped off by Furuki. Maedomari quickly described the scenery - a long path uphill leading to what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse or factory of some sort. No other visible vehicles or people in sight.

At such a time, Kumagami's ability would have been indispensable. Shunsuke shook the thought away.

"Jojiro, go in and see if you can find Kumagami and Nao," Shunsuke instructed. "From my understanding, it looks like an building with various entrances, is that correct?"

"Yes," Maedomari confirmed from his right.

"We must assume that the terrorists are already well aware of all of Yuu's abilities, including Collapse. Surely they would have tried to account for it and protect themselves against it in some way," continued Shunsuke, bringing his hand to his face in thought. "My conjecture is that they are holding their hostages in the basement, and will use them as a threat to prevent Yuu from unleashing Collapse. Your best bet is to get as close as you can, and see if you can make it downstairs without causing too much disturbance. I assume there will be guards placed there; you'll need to be faster than they are and take them out with the taser."

"That does make sense," Medoki said. "They don't want to lose Yuu either."

Shunsuke nodded. "Jojiro, can you do it?"

"I can try, but the accuracy of my landings aren't… ideal, as you know," the teleporter replied. "I've been practicing a lot though; carrying people too. I'll give it my best."

"We're counting on you."

A gust of wind blew past his face. Shunsuke could only surmise that the younger boy - Nao and Yuu's fellow student council member and friend - had made his leap. If Jojiro could time it just right, he could save the hostages without alerting the terrorists Yuu was facing. It was risky though, and he could not help but feel unsettled despite Yuu's possession of Time Leap.

A loud thud.

"I have Nao," Jojiro said. "She's…she's…"

"Alive," Medoki hurriedly added, before Shunsuke could assume the worse. "I've already notified our private ambulances and they are on their way to get her."

He breathed out. "And Kumagami?"

"I saw him too. I'll go bring him out."

"Yes, please -" but before Shunsuke could finish his thought, the ground beneath him shook violently, accompanied by the thundering of falling rocks.

_Impossible…Collapse…_

"Damn it, what is the little brother thinking? He's going to take down the entire warehouse at this rate," shouted Shichino.

_Kumagami. Yuu._

"Take me," Shunsuke said, grabbing at the air until he felt Jojiro. "Now!"

Medoki reacted first. "No, that's too dangerous!"

"Only I can calm Yuu down. Hurry!"

Shunsuke felt himself getting scooped up, and then the stinging wind on his face, an abrasive sensation like sandpaper against the skin. Less than one heartbeat later, they landed hard and his shoulder made contact with concrete. The entire building was quaking now.

"Shunsuke?"

His eyes widened at the proximity of that familiar deep voice. "Kumagami?"

"Fuck, I landed in the wrong place," Jojiro cried. "Yuu's not here!"

But his voice was nearly drowned out by the crashing of rocks that sent tremors through Shunsuke's body. He did not need the ability to see to know that the structure was crumbling above them.

"Jojiro, retreat!"

"What?"

"Go!"

Moments later, and the entire world seemed to fall apart.

* * *

Jojiro managed to narrowly miss a falling chunk of the wall on his way out, hurtling himself forward until he finally crash landed in a bush. But the building…

"Fuck, the building!" Shichino was shouting. The structure that had stood before them only before was now a heap of rubble, and beneath it…"Kumagami and Shunsuke. They're both in there."

Beside him, he heard Maedomari release a string of curses. That shock alone braked all of his jumbled, racing thoughts.

"Medoki, you stay with Tomori," the dark haired boy commanded, easily assuming charge. "Takajo, please go ahead but be careful as the structure is still unstable. Shichino and I won't be far behind you. Keep a lookout as well- the terrorists may still be around. Use the sedatives if you must."

He did not need to say anymore. All three teenagers were off, feel pummeling against the ground, each carried by an overwhelming rush of dread, and the drowned-out whispers of their own (woefully inadequate) prayers.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Thanks for reading. Please leave a review with your thoughts, suggestions, or feedback.

All of my current Charlotte stories are intertwined, so if you'd like to read more into specific characters, I have some character study stories :)


	2. Regret

It was worse than they had anticipated. Seeing the collapsed building before them, Maedomari felt his entire body seize up. "This is bad…" To think that a single ability could generate destruction on this scale shook him to the core.

"We need to go find them." Shichino was already jumping down into the hole that the Collapse had created.

So the search began.

"I found the little brother!"

Maedomari rushed over to where Shichino stood. There was a small clearing; it was apparent that Yuu had managed to activate his telekinesis into some kind of shield, protecting him from the worst. Upon closer examination, Maedomari caught sight of the one slashed eye and gasped in realization.

"They took out his eye. That's why he didn't activate the Time Leap."

"He only thought about himself, that's what happened," Shichino shot back. "I'm going to keep looking for Kumagami and Shunsuke. If the little brother alone survived, and the other two…if that happened, I will fucking kill him myself."

"Takajo, please take Yuu to somewhere safe," Maedomari said quietly, returning his attention to the piles and piles of broken stone. Somewhere beneath it…no, he could not bear to think that way. "Kumagami! Shunsuke!"

* * *

"Kumagami!"

At the sound of his voice, Kumagami stirred, prying his eyes open. He remembered feeling the ground crack beneath him, and hearing the rumble of falling pieces, but somehow he was still alive. Then, with growing horror, he realized that there was something warm dripping onto his face.

"Shun!" Hovering above him was that slender face, except now it was covered in red, a stark contrast to alabaster white skin. Almost numbly, Kumagami took in the scene. Shunsuke on his hands and feet, shielding Kumagami's body with his own. A long, thin piece of railing running straight through his chest, undoubtedly through the lung.

"Kumagami, Shunsu-" Maedomari trailed off. He staggered back. "No."

"You're alright, Pooh?" Shunsuke said, faintly. His mouth twisted up in a smile that more resembled a grimace. "Good…"

His arms gave out. At that last moment, Shunsuke still had enough sense to shift to the right, avoiding any possibility of impaling Kumagami who caught him.

"Shunsuke! No, don't go, Otosaka Shunsuke! Don't you dare die on us," Kumagami begged. He turned to Maedomari, eyes wide and blurry with tears. "Ambulance, now!"

* * *

Kumagami lost track of any semblance of time in the weeks that followed. On occasion, he was aware of the other three syndicate members' presences in the room; usually this would be accompanied by an all-consuming darkness as Medoki forced him to sleep, prying him away from Shunsuke's side. Each time, Kumagami would wake up in yet another hospital bed and find his way back.

"I'm here," he pleaded. Whether it was with the unconscious Shunsuke or with a God above that he didn't believe in, he wasn't sure. "I'm here beside you like I promised. So please wake up. We need you."

But Shunsuke remained as pale and still as a corpse, drowning beneath the mess of bandages and monitors and tubes.

The doctors had rattled off a list of injuries. A punctured, and subsequently collapsed lung. Lacerations and broken bones. Kidney trauma. Internal bleeding.

"It's a miracle that nothing pierced through a major blood vessel," one of the nurses said, as if that was supposed to make Kumagami feel better. "If it had, he would have surely bled to death before we could have even attempted to save him."

Three weeks went by just like that. A monotonous blur of praying and beeping and bartering. His own injuries healed with minimal bedrest- in the grade scheme of things, they had been minor after all - and even his teeth were forcibly replaced by a set of implanted dentures. Forcibly, in that it had taken a combination of Medoki, Maedomari, and Shichino to drag him to the cosmetic department and put him under for the procedure.

"Kumagami?"

A new visitor. He turned to the door to face Nao. She was biting down on her lip in what he could only assume was an attempt to appear calm and unfazed.

"Tomori. I'm glad to see you up. Have you been discharged yet?" Kumagami asked, keeping a light tone. He was truly, genuinely relieved to see her back in her school uniform after having witnessed what those monsters had done. Stripping her of her clothes and dignity, hanging her up like she was a piece of meat…he seethed at the memory. He may not have been particularly close to the girl in the way Shunsuke was, but Kumagami was thankful beyond words that the terrorists had done nothing else to her.

"I was discharged two weeks ago," she said. Her gaze flickered over to the still body on the bed. "I'm sorry I didn't come visit earlier. I just-"

"It's alright, Tomori." Kumagami found himself smiling. Odd. It had been so long since he had worn a smile, yet one had appeared so naturally. "Shunsuke would understand. If anything, I think he'd be relieved to know that you could have that time to take care of yourself."

"I see." She looked down at her hands. They seemed bare without her camcorder in them. In all the times Kumagami had met her, the camcorder had been a constant presence, almost as if they were an appendage rather than a tool.

"Do you want to talk to him?" Kumagami offered, inviting her over.

The student council president came to Shunsuke's bedside, her hands gripping the siderails as she stared down. Her savior, the only person in the world she could trust, was lying in a cocoon of bandages, the only sign of life coming from a heart rate monitor. Her eyes glistened.

"Thank you, Shunsuke" she said after a long time. "I will continue to walk the path you helped me find, but I need your guidance. Please, come back to us."

No response. Just like all those times when Kumagami had begged him.

Another ten minutes passed with Nao watching over Shunsuke in silence.

"…Kumagami, do you think I could ask you for a favor?"

The man in question raised an eyebrow, shifting his gaze to her. Tomori Nao was not somebody to ask for a lot of favors for herself, this Kumagami knew. It meant that he had a fairly good guess as to what her favor would entail. After some consideration, Kumagami relented. "What is it?"

"When you have a chance, could you go talk to Yuu? He is blaming himself for everything that happened to Shunsuke. I know he didn't mean to unleash Collapse like that. Perhaps if you could talk to him, he would feel better."

Ah. Otosaka Yuu. The boy he had intentionally been avoiding. It wasn't that Kumagami blamed Shunsuke's younger brother (except deep down, something clenched at the thought of him) but still, he did not know whether or not he would be able to keep his composure.

"I'll…try." It was the best he could do.

Nao knew this too. She nodded and stood, bowing first to Shunsuke and then to him. "Thank you."

* * *

Hours later, Shichino came by to switch shifts with Kumagami. Against all of his protests, the other three original members of their syndicate had implemented a strict rotational schedule to keep watch over Shunsuke and, at Medoki's behest, the little brother.

"We need you to take care of yourself, Kumagami" Medoki had explained. "With Shunsuke in the hospital, and everything in a disarray, we need you to stay healthy. That means occasionally eating, showering, and getting some rest."

"He's our friend too," Maedomari added on, his eyes red. "We can at least do this much."

And Shichino, the loudest and most outspoken of them all, simply nodded with downcast eyes.

Kumagami took in the scene, then, peering at each of their faces. Of the original syndicate, only these three were left. Some had graduated, their abilities dissipated, ready to resume normal lives in the real world. A handful had fallen in the skirmishes during their early days. Others simply chose to live out their lives as students and not entangle themselves in the crossfire of unknown terrorist groups.

Yet they had stayed on, loyal, unwavering.

Kumagami found himself bowing his head, overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the faith they had placed in him four years ago, following him on his quest with Shunsuke. A long time ago, Shunsuke had made him promise that if anything were to happen, he had a duty to continue protecting all the ability wielders.

"You're right," he had said at last.

Kumagami's thoughts were interrupted when the blond boy spoke up.

"Hey, where will you be headed now?" Shichino asked Kumagami as they switched, the younger boy assuming Kumagami's position on the chair near the various machines and switches. "Medoki is going back soon so you can probably just share a ride with her."

Kumagami shook his head. "No, I'm not heading back to our base. There's somebody I need to talk to.

A raised eyebrow. "Who?"

"Shunsuke's little brother," Kumagami forced the words out. "Otosaka Yuu."

At this, Shichino jumped up and threw his arms out. "What? That little coward? He's the reason why we're here in the first place. He's the one who caused the entire warehouse to collapse and used his abilities to save himself. He put Shunsuke in this situation!"

Despite everything, Kumagami could not find it in himself to agree. "Shichino, he did not mean for any of this to happen. It was a mistake on multiple fronts."

"But he still did it!" the blonde boy shouted. "And now Shunsuke…we don't even know if Shunsuke…"

Kumagami wrapped his arms around Shichino. "Have more faith in Shunsuke," he said. It sounded weak even to himself. "And most of all, he wouldn't want us to abandon the little brother he worked so hard to save."

In the end, Kumagami knew all of that was to convince himself to believe it too.

* * *

With some questioning and receiving of directions, Kumagami found himself walking on autopilot down the stairs and into another wing of the hospital. Apparently, Yuu had recovered sufficiently that he was no longer in any real danger of losing his life, and thus had been transported to the physical rehabilitation department.

"He's still recovering," the nurse cautioned Kumagami. Her trepidation was apparent; it seemed that Kumagami was perhaps not giving off the most calming of vibes.

"Ah, I know."

"Please refrain from upsetting him too much. I have heard that his mental state has been unstable."

"I understand."

If anything, Kumagami knew the importance of keeping Yuu calm more than any medical professional. Shunsuke had never said too much about his sister's ability other than its trigger point, and sheer power. Over time, Kumagami did manage to deduce that Collapse had been the ending of more than one of the time-leaps.

In his pocket he carried the sedative that Shichino had begrudgingly handed him. "We also watched over the little brother in the beginning. Maedomari's orders. Use this in case he starts freaking out, the little pussy."

All of a sudden, Kumagami was in front of the door. He inhaled, deeply, and knocked.

"Come in," said the voice inside.

He did, keeping his expression carefully neutral. Sitting cross-legged on the hospital bed was Otosaka Yuu, perfectly conscious and breathing on his own and…alive. Kumagami's breath hitched. The little brother soon registered who his visitor was, and paled.

"K-Kumagami."

"Hn."

There was an awkward silence in the air, an elephant in the room.

"I came to talk to you," Kumagami said. "May I sit?"

Yuu gestured weakly at the chair near his bed. "Yes, of course…"

The younger boy looked petrified, as if expecting Kumagami to lash out at any moment. Then again, if Shichino had been on watch at any point, Kumagami supposed that the fear was not unwarranted.

They really looked nothing alike, the two Otosaka brothers. Acted nothing alike too, for Shunsuke had never faltered, regardless of the adversaries placed before him. For as long as he had known the older Otosaka brother, Kumagami had never doubted Shunsuke to gracefully navigate any high pressure situation he was thrown into.

Beyond that, Shunsuke was utterly selfless, the most selfless person Kumagami had ever met. His younger brother, on the other hand...Kumagami remembered the boy who abused his powers to cheat his way through school for no other purpose than to satisfy his own inflated sense of self-worth. The two brothers were polar opposites and yet Shunsuke loved Yuu fiercely.

"I'm sorry, Kumagami!"

Kumagami snapped out of his thoughts when Yuu suddenly lurched forward, tears falling freely.

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault. Shunsuke is in the hospital because of me. I didn't mean for it to happen, I really didn't. I was supposed to use the time leap ability to jump back but then they took out an eye because I was frozen in place and I didn't react fast enough and used Collapse. I put you and Tomori and my brother all in danger because all I could think about was myself. I'm just a useless, selfish, cheating fiend who can't do anything right. This failure, this piece of shit of a human being, this is all I am."

Yuu's words tumbled out like a river broken free of its dam before they dissolved into small gasps for air. His entire body shook, wracked by sobs and guilt and regret.

Kumagami's heart suddenly ached for Shunsuke's younger brother who, only days before, had been at school enjoying his time with his friends. Unlike the syndicate members who had had years to train their nerves, Yuu had been thrust into the worst mission without any preparation. Anybody would have frozen in that situation.

Kumagami had spent years trying to convince Shunsuke how it was okay to be human. And here, his younger brother had reacted as a human would, made the kinds of mistakes that a human did. How could anyone fault him for it? How could Kumagami even begin to blame him?

His body moved of its own accord, enveloping Yuu. "Hey, it's alright. This is not your fault; none of it is. We had all made miscalculations. I made that decision to walk into the warehouse instead of alerting your brother. If anything, all of this was because of an error on my part. Your brother knew that; he would never blame you for any of this."

"But I hurt him, Kumagami…what are we going to do if he doesn't wake up?"

What would they do?

What would he do?

Returning the research facility without Shunsuke. Padding down the hallways at ungodly hours to find the office empty, and nobody to yell at to go to bed. Running the school, running the other syndicates, without Shunsuke's quirky, confident leadership.

Functioning, without Shunsuke.

The thought _hurt_. It hurt more than anything Kumagami had ever experienced, as if all of his blood had been replaced with ice. He would rather endure an eternity of torture by the terrorists than to live without Shunsuke.

"K-Kumagami?"

The older boy stood up. "Take care, Yuu." And as soon as he made it to the safety of the hallway, away from the burden of Otosaka Yuu's anxious gaze, Kumagami lowered his head and cried.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

In this alternate world where Takajo accompanied the group, he was able to grab Nao and also free Kumagami from his restraints. After jumping back the second time, he unfortunately went to the wrong place carrying Shunsuke and landed where Kumagami (who had been freed and was trying to sneak away from the building) was.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review with any thoughts and feedback. The next chapter might take me a little bit longer; this one was already written, but the next chapters are all still WIP. I tend to first post on Archive of Our Own a few days before so I have time to edit and fix things


	3. Chatoyant

Moaning.

Kumagami jerked awake. Shunsuke. The boy was moving his head in an obvious attempt to escape pain, and it was simultaneously the most beautiful and agonizing sight Kumagami could have thought possible. Shunsuke was awake, but he was moaning, clearly agitated, and were it not for the innumerous tubes all over his body, he would likely have been thrashing.

Immediately, Kumagami was there, finding the boy's hand (the only part of him not punctured by a needle or taped with a monitor, Kumagami did not let himself think). "Shun. It's me, Pooh. Shun, you're safe. Calm down, everything is okay. I'm here."

Shunsuke's hand was limp, devoid of the strength to grip his own, but the moans gradually subsided as Shunsuke listened.

If relief could be measured by its weight in gold, Kumagami would surely have become the wealthiest man in the world. The doctors had warned them that Shunsuke might have suffered enough trauma to affect his 'cognitive state', but here and now, confronted with evidence to disprove that possibility, it was all he could do not to break down.

Shunsuke had recognized him, had heard him.

"You absolute, glorious, incorrigible bastard," Kumagami whispered, the words choking in his throat. "Shunsuke, damn it. You scared us all…but thank you. For coming back to me."

With a ventilator tube tunneling down his throat and machines breathing for him, Shunsuke had no way of replying. But Kumagami could swear that he felt an almost imperceptible squeeze before his friend drifted back to sleep.

* * *

The doctors confirmed what Kumagami saw. Otosaka Shunsuke had somehow broken out of his coma; despite that, he still relied on the combination of the different machines to keep his body functioning, but at long last, he could be considered on the mend. Kumagami alerted their other three childhood friends, and they immediately came to the hospital, bursting through the door.

"Are you serious?" Medoki demanded, hands gripped tightly on his shirt. Her hair was not brushed, sweeping across her ruddy face and sticking to dried tails of tears down her cheek. It was evident that their car ride had been an anxious one.

"Yes. He woke up. Shunsuke is coming back."

Maedomari shook his head. "What a relief," he repeated over and over again.

Most heartbreaking of all was the sound of a sob emerging from Kumagami's side. Shichino stood there, face buried in his arm in a valiant attempt to hide his tears. It was futile of course, but the others did nothing more than embrace him, Kumagami last of all. His arms wrapped around them, his found family. Complete, now that Shunsuke was back.

In many ways this scene tugged at Kumagami's heart most and he made note to tell Shunsuke about it after. Of all of their friends, Shichino had warmed up to Shunsuke the slowest, repeatedly challenging their supposed leader from the future. It had taken until their takeover of the school for Shichino to finally realize that Otosaka Shunsuke was not some delusional optimist, or worse, a swindler working for the scientists. Longer still to learn to respect Shunsuke, not for his brilliance but for his humility and kindness.

So many years of struggle and hardships they had overcome to reach this point, and yet, how fragile it was!

Kumagami thought back to one of Shunsuke's many stories about his previous time-leaps in which they (or Shunsuke and the alternate Kumagami) had supposedly discussed his ability, with all its implications. When Shunsuke had first recounted this exchange, he had done so with a smirk, the one he always wore when teasing Kumagami (even if his target was an alternate Kumagami that technically did not exist anymore.)

_"If you think about it, it's basically immortality," Kumagami said. The two boys were sitting on the grassy knoll where they met, fifteen and drunk on the youthful vitality that came with the possession of a shared mission. The city before them turned gold beneath the dying rays of the sun._

_Shunsuke, three time-leaps in, had paused then, bringing his index finger and resting it against his lips in thought. "You know, I've never thought about it that way."_

_"Theoretically, you could keep time-leaping back before you grow up and lose your ability. I mean - this is why your ability is truly the most powerful I've ever seen. You are the one and only person in the world who is immortal."_

_"Immortality…I've never believed in immortality, Pooh."_

Upon finishing the tale, Shunsuke had chuckled, pinching Kumagami's cheek (who then reacted poorly to this assault, as to be expected). "You were adorably naïve, Pooh. Immortality? It is such an innocent concept."

"How could I, or rather that alternate universe me, have known the consequences of your time-leap? You're being unfair, Shun." Kumagami had protested. "It's not like you knew any better back then."

The smile that his friend wore had grown fainter, eyes of silver lightning narrowing. "If there's one thing I could say, Pooh, it is that I have never believed in immortality. Not then and certainly not now."

Immortality. It seemed so ridiculous, and yet somehow the syndicate members always assumed that Shunsuke would be there to lead them. How long had they operated under the belief that their leader was untouchable, carrying the torch that lit up a path into the future they all dreamed of? Years ago, when Shunsuke had lain atop a hospital bed fighting an invisible infection*, Kumagami had reminded himself again and again that his best friend was mortal regardless of how he carried himself.

But Kumagami had grown careless in the proceeding years, and in wake of all their successes. He had walked into the terrorists' hands knowingly. Walked into their hands, and nearly killed Shunsuke as a result.

Kumagami brought himself back to the room, alternating between focusing on Shunsuke (who was asleep once more) and Doctor Yamashiro who had strolled in with his clipboard and usual brusqueness. He tapped the doctor's arms. "How long before you can remove the ventilator and chest tubes?"

"Just a while longer, like a week or so. The ventilator can go once we are certain he is strong enough to breathe on his own, but the tubes will need to wait until we confirm that his lung had fully healed and no longer leaks. It is fortunate that he has been unconscious thus far. I'm afraid the recovery process is not exactly comfortable for the patients."

Doctor Yamashiro patted Kumagami on the shoulder, for once taking on a sympathetic expression. "Don't worry though. He seems to be the stubborn kind. I have no doubt that he will make a full recovery, especially under your watchful eye."

A full recovery. It seemed too good to be true when Shunsuke was still hooked up to machines of all shapes and functions.

What was it he always said?

_Where there's a will, there's a way._

And if anybody in the world had the will to fight, it was Shunsuke.

* * *

Days later, and Shunsuke was beginning to stay awake for hours at a time instead of minutes. If Kumagami needed any confirmation that the other man had truly and fully returned to the land of the living, it was given to him in the form of a crudely drawn bear on the whiteboard they had handed him for communication. Even without the use of eyesight, the reference was unmistakable.

Of course, the immediate next question turned much more somber as Shunsuke wrote 'Yuu?' in shaky characters.

"He's doing well," said Kumagami, conveniently omitting the nuance of the younger boy's mental rather than physical state. Medoki was keeping him updated on Yuu's progress, which at the current moment still seemed to consist of constant panic attacks and a general dissociated state of being. "Your brother made it out in much better shape than you did. The telekinesis he had stolen had protected him."

Then, because he knew Shunsuke better than he knew himself, Kumagami hurriedly continued the status report. "Nao was released weeks ago and is back in school. The others are fine - they've all been taking turns watching over you. Ayumi has been by to see you as well; Medoki has assumed the role of her caretaker in your absence. She struggled at first but your sister is a lot more resilient than we thought. Oh, and Ayumi reminded me to tell you that she'll cook for you and Yuu once you're back home."

A small smile emerged (as much as the ventilator allowed). Shunsuke lifted a shaky hand, however, and continued his outlining something on the whiteboard.

The brunette man furrowed his brows at the illegible shapes and lines before him. Then, seeing the mischievous glint in Shunsuke's eyes, the meaning dawned on him.

A circle with two ears (one of which was floating above the large circle). A vaguely tooth-shaped blob. The character for 'old'.

"I am taking away your whiteboard privileges today," declared Kumagami. "And no, I am not wearing dentures. These are implants and I guarantee they are much more attractive than your teeth are right now. You know yours haven't been cleaned in forever because of that tube down your throat."

God, how he had missed those chatoyant eyes that flashed silver and crinkled in mirth, those fingers that curled around his, that brilliant smile that had shined upon him years ago, and never stopped.

And now that Kumagami had them all again, he knew he would never let them go.

* * *

"Pooh, can I ask you for two favors?" Shunsuke said. The doctors had finally removed the ventilator running down his throat, and though his voice could scarcely raise beyond a whisper, it was all music to Kumagami's ears.

"Do your requests for favors always come in pairs?" Kumagami retorted. However, his friend did not smile back, and he grew serious. "Yeah, what is it?"

"Can you arrange for my discharge from the hospital? As soon as possible would be preferable."

Kumagami dropped the bowl of soup he had been readying. Luckily it was plastic, and merely splattered over the floor. "What? Are you crazy, Shunsuke? You've barely just started to breathe on your own. Not to mention that your body is still weak. There is an elevated risk of infection if we move you, or worse, it could trigger internal bleeding again."

"It's dangerous here," Shunsuke said, his fingers tapping the side of his bed in lieu of a more emphatic gesture. "We bribed the hospital to keep everything under wraps, but it's only a matter of time before our presence is leaked. The longer we stay here, the riskier it is that someone hears about my current state, or worse, about Yuu."

He stopped to catch his breath, coughing weakly.

Kumagami shut his eyes, wanting desperately to argue more. Yet, he knew that as always, Shunsuke was correct. It had been over a month since their conflict with the foreign syndicate. Although Maedomari had sworn he had erased all of the memories of the two adults who had survived, there were plenty of other syndicates seeking power through less than scrupulous means. It was also likely that at least one of them would have an ability-wielder that shared a similar ability to his.

"I understand," Kumagami found himself saying. "I'll go speak to the doctors about it, and for Yuu as well. We can use our alumni connections to hire a doctor to stay with us, just in case."

Shunsuke nodded. "Thanks."

"And the second favor?"

"This is about the matter of Furuki," said Shunsuke.

"His family is safe. They were unscathed. We've taken the liberty of housing them underground with us out of precaution, confined in separate rooms in the West Wing. Furuki has all but executed himself, pleading to be treated as the traitor he is."

"We need to erase his memory, and his family's. It was my mistake to give him consent to work for us knowing that he had dependents that could be used as leverage. It's unfortunate, but this is the only way to ensure his and our safety."

Kumagami studied Shunsuke's expression, a combination of remorse and frustration. He still blamed himself, clearly, for all the events that had happened. Despite all of Kumagami and the others' admonishments, Shunsuke's default was always to blame himself.

"Got it," he said. "I'll have Maedomari prepare for this."

"Following that, let's do a quick check on the remaining people we have staffed at the facility. We can't have these kinds of vulnerabilities."

"Leave it to me, Shun. I'll take care of this."

Kumagami's heart warmed at Shunsuke's smile, bright and sincere. "I'm counting on you then, Pooh."

* * *

**Author's Note: **

I'm not yet fully satisfied with these scenes yet, but am posting them because it's a blocker for my other work: "the soul has bandaged moments". If you want to read the entire FiCoN series in chronological order (i.e. all of my Charlotte fics are linked together), hop on over to that story. It will focus on the members of the syndicate immediately after the events of this chapter.

I also belatedly realized that I had forgotten to post one story that, timeline-wise, falls in before the start of this fic. Luckily it's a short oneshot about Kumagami, but do check it out if you're interested!


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